Dawson Bell
Detroit Free Press

Michigan voters favored sanctioning the use of medical marijuana to treat debilitating illness Tuesday, apparently rejecting arguments that doing so would increase crime and juvenile drug use.

The marijuana measure, Proposal 1, led 63% to 37%, with 87% precincts tallied early this morning. The vote was 2,566,783 in favor to 1,526,477 against.

Mike Malott and Kristofer Karol
Daily Press & Argus

Livingston County, for many years a hotbed of right-to-life sentiment, nonetheless voted Tuesday to approve Proposal 2, a ballot question to loosen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research in Michigan.

With 94 percent of the vote counted, Proposal 2 was passing in Livingston County by a margin of 46,482 yes votes to 41,420 nos. Statewide, Michigan voters approved Proposal 2.

Conservative Livingston County also joined the rest of the state in approval to Proposal 1, which would allow for medical use of marijuana, despite unified opposition from the law enforcement community. With 94 percent of the vote counted, Proposal 1 was passing in Livingston County 55,112 to 32,676.

Jacob Goldstein
Wall Street Journal Health Blog

In Michigan, embryonic stem cell research is more controversial than medical marijuana — but, ultimately, Michiganders approve of both.

Charlie Cain
Detroit News

Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved the use of marijuana for medical reasons, while opponents of a proposal to ease restrictions on stem cell research research came close to conceding defeat, according to early returns and exit polls for The Detroit News, WXYZ-TV Action News and others.

David Panian
Adrian Daily Telegram

ADRIAN, Mich. -

Twenty years ago, Steven Butler was prescribed Marinol for pain relief from a variety of ailments.

Butler, 43, said the medicine, which includes the active ingredient in marijuana, did what injectable narcotics such as morphine could not — relieve the pain and allow him to live his life.

“I didn’t become a zombie,” the retired corrections officer from Adrian said. The medication, he said, didn’t affect his mental acuity.

Now he wants Michigan voters on Tuesday to approve Proposal 1, which would legalize marijuana use and possession for certain medical purposes. He said smoking marijuana is a more effective means of ingesting THC than taking it in a pill like Marinol, such as when someone can’t swallow a pill. He said it is easier to regulate the dosage by smoking marijuana.

Dawson Bell
Detroit Free Press

Michigan voters like the idea of decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, backing the measure 61%-30%, the Detroit Free Press/Local 4 Michigan Poll shows.

Nine percent said they were undecided about allowing medical marijuana, designated as Proposal 1 on the ballot.

Matt Tomlinson
Traverse City Record-Eagle

As an 18-year-old first-time voter and a Crohn's disease patient of six years, I am urging all Michigan voters to vote "yes" on Proposals 1 and 2. These propositions would help end the suffering of leukemia, Parkinson's and Crohn's disease among other diseases.

Mariah Helms
Lansing State Journal

Medical marijuana should be legal. It has been proven to limit pain and reduces the side effects of other medicines.

Anna Tsentsiper
Detroit News

The recent commentary from Bill Schuette and Daniel Michael is not much more than alarmist exaggeration ("Proposal 1's mixed message would hike drug use, offer ineffective care," Oct. 21). None of the "sky is falling" scenarios they predict have happened in the other 12 medical marijuana states.

Andrew Waldis
Detroit News

If we truly are a freedom-loving society, then it should take a very strong argument to convince us to go into the voting booth and surrender even a little bit of freedom. The opponents of Proposal 1 fall well short of making such an argument.